Here’s a mailbag because it has been a while.
Will the league finally shift now that Vegas (Gallant) has gone the direction of allowing players to make mistakes without consequence? Could this mean an influx of youth to the ranks?
— Sean Thomas (@SeanThomasTruth) May 27, 2018
It’s easy to do that when there haven’t been consequences. Marc-Andre Fleury is covering up for his teammates much like he did against Washington last year. I doubt things would be that way if they were getting league average goaltending instead of career high numbers from a 33 year old. Their defensive metrics are worse than any Penguins team from the Bylsma, Johnston, or Sullivan era. People are struggling to figure out Vegas’ run, but it’s simply all-world goaltending.
Bill Peters: are his scoring/goaltending problems systemic and will they follow him to Calgary? His team at the World Championships averaged less than 3 goals per game (excluding the games vs. Korea and Denmark)
— @FakeChrisCote (@RealChrisCote) May 27, 2018
I don’t take too much stock in a small sample like a tournament, but when you have by far the best roster there and look pedestrian it isn’t a good look after his Carolina tenure. Goalie play is one of the tougher things to predict and over time you should eventually get a good performance. It never happened with Bill Peters. There’s also the fact that he is inheriting Mike Smith who had a good year last year, but is also 36 next year. He could heavily fall back no matter who his coach is.
Gives us a potential pens player that gets traded...not named Kessel, Sheary or Hagelin.
— pukeboy (@pukeboy768) May 27, 2018
Matt Hunwick would be ideal. I don’t know how appealing that contract is considering the year he had. Never underestimate NHL GM’s lack of ability to analyze defensemen though.
Do you think that the success of Vegas will impact free agency and how GMs structure their rosters?
— DJ Dukes (@DJdukesII) May 27, 2018
It has been a super exciting year in Las Vegas. There’s no taking that excitement away from the fans. However, I don’t know what other teams should learn other than not giving away multiple assets to protect a mediocre asset when Seattle comes around. Basically don’t be Florida or Columbus.
If You were to trade Kessel, what would you be okay with as a return?
— the Chad (@cwick2511) May 27, 2018
I don’t know if what I’m okay with would line up with another team that would value Kessel. Anybody looking to trade for Phil would presumably be in a similar situation as Pittsburgh trying to win a Stanley Cup because what other reason would you trade for Phil at this stage of his contract? Trading Kessel doesn’t seem like the kind of thing that could help Pittsburgh right now. Cap relief will eventually be the reason the Penguins need to move on from Phil which makes things tricky. If you’re a year too late it will make that task all the more difficult. I’m willing to take that risk at least another season and open to re-evaluating things in June 2019.
Penguins Twitter seems overly concerned w/ ridiculing low hanging fruit - NBC, local media, random dude w/ poor take. Yeah many don't “get it" (like analytics). Should we stop complaining as much or is it worth our time? Seems ppl are too miserable to have had back to back Cups.
— Jai843811 (@jai843811) May 27, 2018
I think Twitter is whatever you make of it. Your feed is yours and if you see something over the top hateful you don’t like you can get rid of it. This does have the potential to be problematic with serious real life issues because then you are in a bubble and an echo chamber. I don’t see a problem with a lot of the criticism because NHL fans are incredibly underserved in mainstream analysis. We still have general managers who value +/- and goalie wins and most of the media you see covering the league are just parrots and appeal to authority.
Quite impress with Dumoulin’s level of play as of late : do you see his offensive production go up next year as he seemed to be flying in the playoffs?
— tchoumi (@tchoumi19) May 27, 2018
I think there is room for growth, but I’ve felt that way for quite a while. This stems from the fact that Brian Dumoulin used to run the point back in WB/S on the power play. I’ve never understood why he doesn’t assert himself more offensively. There’s clearly some skill based on his passing ability to start transition. I also think it depends on who his partner is. Playing with Kris Letang has benefited Dumoulin. Playing with Ron Hainsey didn’t. When Dumoulin was with Hainsey his individual shot attempts plummeted and this year it rebounded when playing with Letang again.
Who could the Pens live without more; Sheary or Rust? I figure one of them could get you a solid Dman return.
— DeeJay (@Leos_Dad13) May 27, 2018
I think Conor Sheary would be the player to move on from and not Bryan Rust. I don’t know what this “solid… defenseman looks like though. These are depth players with slightly more than depth player value because of the two Cups. I think that any Conor Sheary trade would be to find cap space.
Is there a player in the league that fumbles pucks or fans on a shot/pass more than Olli Mà¤à¤ttà¤? Maybe Conor Sheary?
— Couch Potato GM (@CouchPotatoGM) May 27, 2018
I personally don’t share this assessment of Maatta. Sheary certainly looks like he has oven mitts on at times. One of the things that using stats can help with is measuring a player’s value despite these visual mistakes (or even successes) we remember. Are they actually hurting (or helping) the team over the long haul or do we just remember the viscerally obvious.
If you could prioritize one of Erik Karlsson, or John Tavares for another cup run in this window (and not trade Phil Kessel or Kris Letang to do so) -which would you pick?
— Joshua Carns (@CarnsJoshua) May 27, 2018
In this magical scenario my obvious answer is Erik Karlsson. He is probably my favorite non-Penguin to watch. It has been disappointing that everybody has had to consume his greatness with the stain of the Ottawa Senators attached to it.
In a practical world John Tavares is a UFA and would not cost the Penguins any assets directly even though they would indirectly need to shed salary.
Would a player rather be licked or have his jaw broken?
— Jim (@unrealZeroG) May 27, 2018
I would rather be licked. I would also rather lick somebody else rather than break their jaw, assuming consent of course.
Is there a better Phil picture than this? pic.twitter.com/X6Xot9OFvS
— Evan (@Schrodingers_QB) May 27, 2018
I am partial to the picture that has Phil with the Stanley Cup and hot dogs, but this one remains legendary.
Thanks for reading!